Don't let go of this thing of mine
by jin0uga
Summary: Neo reached out to cradle her face, the smirk changing into something more genuine. And then she leaned in, claiming her lips in one swift movement. Ruby let herself fall into her touch and kissed back with just as much fervour because she had meant it when she said 'I love you'. One shot


Ruby Rose did not feel remotely 21.

She stared at her reflection, twisting her body a few times to get a good look of her outfit. She felt like she was drowning in her tuxedo. It wasn't a nice feeling, especially when she was already nervous; and kept retying her tie. The woman pirouetted in front of the mirror, yelping when she narrowly missed hitting her shins. She sighed. Scrunching her nose up at her reflection, Ruby pinched a strand of her crimson tipped hair and twirled it in her finger.

It was longer now. It didn't used to touch her shoulders, but now it did. But, it was much more manageable than last time. And definitely much easier to keep it in shape even if she activated her semblance. She let go of her hair, the strand falling back into place, and pinched her cheek. It was surprisingly stiff. _Well…I suppose that the baby fat must've disappeared ages ago._ A voice spoke dimly at the back of her mind.

Ruby cocked her head to the side. Her face was noticeably less chubby. Her cheekbones were sharper, and her nose didn't quite feel so out of place as it did when she was younger and more insecure.

"Blehhh." She stuck out her tongue. She looked at herself. She still looked 21. Feeling a little silly at this point, Ruby distracted herself by picking up a small bottle of perfume. Despite how small it was, it was heavy and acted as a good paperweight for all her loose papers. It had been a gift from Weiss, and the only reason she accepted it was because _someone_ had threatened to clear her collection of trading cards. _Damn you, Yang._ She grumbled as she spritzed herself with the sweet smelling stuff. _You're sooo whipped._

Just as she'd thought that, her scroll rang. The sudden noise made her jump, and unfortunately, Ruby had accidentally spritzed herself. In the _fucking_ eye. "Ow ow ow!" She screeched and dropped the bottle on the dresser. She raced to the bathroom and splashed her face so many times that she was soaked by the time her eye had recovered. The woman growled at her wet suit and felt like ripping her hair out. Great, now she had to wear _another_ suit, and that meant more clothes to wash.

Stomping back to her bedroom, Ruby snatched the scroll from the table and glared at the offending number. The words **Missed Call: Yang Xiao Long** flashed several times, and she had to hold back a groan.

She stripped her coat off, quickly changing into another button up shirt and grabbed the last suit in her cupboard. It was a nice navy colour, and she didn't wear it all that much since she preferred the black one. She looked more professional in that. The navy one was…well, but it reminded her of the suits the anchor men wore during the morning news. It made her feel older, she remembered. That was partly the reason why she rarely touched it.

Not having much of a choice (Weiss had forbid her to wear her usual ensemble to the party) Ruby slipped the navy overcoat on her shoulders and grabbed another tie from the closet. And reluctantly so, she dialled Yang's number and listened to the faint 'beep beep' sound that echoed from the receiver.

"Heyyyy little sis!" Yang's chipper voice exploded from the scroll.

"Sup'." Ruby greeted warily.

"Aw don't be so cold! Can't a big sis call to check up on her whittle sister?"

Ruby smiled and rolled her eyes. "Oh shut your pie hole."

"Gasp! How you wound me." Yang said.

"Why did you say the word 'gasp' instead of gasping?"

"Cuz I wanted to." Came the reply. "Anywayyy, I was just calling to see if you're bringing a date."

Ruby groaned silently. _Dust, not this again._ "Yang." She said firmly. "You know that I'm bringing my girlfriend right?"

"Wow really?" Came the awful attempt at playing dumb. Yang could be insufferable and ignorant at times, but dumb was not one of them. "Shame. Would've thought that she would try to get out of it."

"Quite the opposite actually." Ruby said dryly, not amused in the slightest. "I told her that she didn't need to come, but she insisted."

"Oh, alright then." Yang replied neutrally. "Don't forget to bring some wine!"

"Wait a sec, Weiss has a full store of wine–"

Her complaints were cut off when Yang hung up the phone, leaving an irritated Ruby to glare at the receiver. Why did she have to be so difficult sometimes? Dredging up old things and shoving it in her face…as if she hadn't done it enough to herself.

Ruby turned her attention back to the mirror. The navy suit was less puffy than the black one, and she must had grown a little, since it felt slightly tighter than it used to. Combing down the cowlick that had sprung up, she sighed at her reflection again.

Ruby did not feel remotely 21. No, she felt much _much_ older than that.

* * *

Neo waited patiently for her girlfriend to arrive. Sitting at a cosy, outdoor café; the ice-creamed themed ex villain scoped her surroundings again. Old habits die hard, but keeping her wits about her could hardly be a bad thing.

There was a couple sitting behind her. They were making kissy faces, and it made her crinkle her eyebrows at disgust. She was all for pda, but she would think that looking like a drooling nincompoop would have definitely killed the romantic vibe. She turned away and glanced to her left. There was an old man sitting by the table with an umbrella; nursing a cup of tea. Neo could see steam rising from the cup and looked back to her own.

The porcelain felt cold in her hands. She sighed and tapped her fingers.

Ruby was late.

She was about to get up and walk in to order another cup of tea, when a figure popped out of nowhere. Said figure held up a bouquet of flowers and presented it to her with a large smile. Ruby did a little jig of satisfaction when Neo accepted it, smiling softly. Ruby had been accused of not having a romantic bone in a body, but her relationship had proved that wrong thank you very much!

"I'm sorry I'm late." Ruby apologized, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment. "The traffic jam took _forever_ to clear up plus the stupid bus was so slow. And…I may or may not have squashed the first bouquet when I was walking to the car, so i kinda had to walk back to the shop." She giggled uneasily.

The woman before her said nothing, only leaning forward to give her a light peck on her cheek. She blushed and squealed when said woman decided to _suddenly_ cop a feel. The offending hand grazed her derriere and she found herself turning absolutely red when she thought of being groped by her girlfriend in _broad daylight_. Scowling, Ruby lightly hit Neo's shoulder. It did little good because the ex-criminal didn't look ashamed at all.

The scowl melted into a grin when her girlfriend continued to eye her form appreciatively, the burning gaze leaving nothing to the imagination, and she couldn't help but glower at little at the attention.

Neo then grabbed her hand and scribbled something on the flat surface of her palm.

'Why, d _on't you look handsome?'_ The woman smiled smugly when Ruby blushed even harder at the compliment. _'I wished we didn't need to go to that party. You look delicious enough to eat up.'_

Ruby squeaked and buried her bright red face into Neo's shoulder. The shorter woman's chest rumbled with laughter. "Stop that!" She yelped.

' _Don't worry. I'll be saving my energy for our…late night activities.'_ She winked.

"Neooooo." She groaned. "Why do you have to put it like that?" Ruby whined. The only answer she received was another tinkling laugh before she felt her writing on her palm again.

' _We should get going. I don't want to be late and give your friends something else to complain about.'_

Neo took her by the arm and gently dragged her in the direction of her own car. When they had first started dating, Ruby had insisted that she pay for the outings, so she had decided to be the one to escort her date around in comfort and style. Her previous _occupation_ had been very generous with its pay after all, something like a car was no big deal to her.

They came across the luxurious sports car soon enough. Despite what Ruby said about having no interest in vehicles whatsoever, she had a soft spot for _fast_ cars. It was to be expected anyway, since she could probably go faster than most of the economically priced ones. Besides, it didn't hurt to impress her lover every now and again. The car beeped when Neo clicked on the lock, the two side doors popping open. Both women slid in with practiced ease, and Ruby reached over to help her girlfriend buckle up.

Neo never said it, but, she loved it when Ruby did small things like this. It was endearingly sweet and she had to resist the urge to _take_ her right then and there. Unlike Ruby, she pandered more to her darker side, or more specifically; the side that thrived on sexual gratification. Neo learned to rein it in though, since this relationship was _nothing_ like her last one. Ruby was here to stay, and she would be damned if she couldn't control her urges and end up chasing the woman away.

As if knowing what Neo was thinking, the huntress leaned over to capture her lips in a firm kiss. The kiss was absolutely electric, and when Ruby's mouth pressed a little harder; _dust_ did it make her stomach flip. As much as Neo loved to be dominant, she didn't mind being at the bottom sometimes. _Especially_ if she was topped by Ruby.

The kiss was broken however, when they both realized that the flowers were getting squashed between them. The taller woman grabbed the bouquet and gently set it down in the backseat while the other twisted the key, igniting the engine. The car purred lowly like a jungle cat, and Ruby brightened up instantly at the sound.

"C'mon!" She urged, jumping in her seat excitedly. "Let's go already!"

Neo smirked and obliged, smashing her foot into the pedal. The car roared to life, shooting out of the parking space and down the street. Honks and shouts followed them, but all Neo did was wind down the window to flip them the bird. They were going so fast that not even the patrol cars could follow them, and it gave Ruby a slight thrill. The new Schnee manor was on the outskirts of town so the couple decided to use one of the smaller, less well known roads to avoid the traffic.

They raced through the country, going so fast that Ruby whooped when the car ran over several bumps and was left dangling in the air for a few scant seconds. After a while though, the road began to level and there was no more shouts of delight as they journeyed to the manor.

The wind whipping at Neo's face was beginning to feel more annoying than relaxing, and she grimaced slightly. Ruby glanced at her, and noticed the woman's discomfort. Carefully, she leaned over her lap to press the button, her hand innocently brushing against Neo's thigh. The effect was almost instantaneous, and for once, the ex-villain cursed herself for wearing a dress. Her girlfriend was in a suit, with little to no openings to take advantage of; and here she was, so _many_ places vulnerable to attack. She jerked under the touch and glared at the huntress, who had returned to her former position and continued staring out of the window as green hills rolled past. Neo grunted.

Ruby caught the sound and turned to stare at her in confusion, which made Neo annoyed. She was wide open, yet still nothing? No game plan, no form of attack? She fumed. She refused to arrive at the manor feeling hot and heavy, while her girlfriend bounced around like some energizer bunny. With one hand on the wheel, Neo slowly reached over to the other seat.

"Neo?" Ruby asked, confusion clear in her voice. "What…what are you doing?"

Slowing down the car slightly, the woman shot her an unamused look. She blinked once. Twice. And then Ruby broke into a large grin, waggling her eyebrows suggestively. "Ohhh! I get it!" She said, to which Neo couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"Okay then!" Was all her girlfriend said, before her hand suddenly shot forward– falling over her exposed thighs. Ruby slowly ran her fingers over the soft, pale flesh, reveling in how Neo took in a sharp breath as she tried to keep her eyes glued to the road. Smirking, she sank her nails into the flesh and Neo nearly choked on her own spit at the touch. Being marked was one of her favourite things, and Ruby clearly knew it too.

"What's wrong?" She teased. "I'm just doing what you wanted me to do." She said and leaned forward to nip at Neo's exposed neck. The frilled collar was a shoddy line of defense, the ice-cream themed woman decided, when Ruby's kisses began to trail upwards. Each kiss lighted the desire within her, and left a trail of fire across her skin. Her grip on her steering wheel was horribly tight now, and all she wanted to do was to stop the _damn_ car! She snapped when Ruby kissed her cheek gently, mimicking what Neo did outside the café.

The car screeched to a halt, sending dust flying everywhere. They had stopped in the middle of nowhere, the area around them devoid of any life. Ruby grinned at how flushed Neo was, and mentally patted herself for such a feat. She wasn't easily flustered, and it was _usually_ the one _doing_ the flustering.

Neo turned to her, eyes blazing with unbidden desire and licked her lips. Pink and brown irises flickered and exchanged places, though the heated gaze remained on Ruby. Her trademark Cheshire smirk made Ruby's heart flutter. It reminded her of the first time they had met. The huntress would never forget the way her heart jumped and somersaulted in her chest when they stood toe to toe, eye to eye. It had been a one on one battle, but somehow, it had felt more like a graceful dance as they twirled and dodged each attack.

The thrill of fighting had long since faded after Cinder's defeat. Even hunting Grimm didn't make her happy now, like it had back then. But when Neo touched her, the touch rekindled something in her soul. The tiredness would melt away like ice under fire, and she would feel _so much_ happiness that her heart would've _burst_ if it could.

Neo reached out to cradle her face, the smirk changing into something more genuine. And then she leaned in, claiming her lips in one swift movement and tasting like sweet _sweet_ candy. Ruby let herself fall into her touch and kissed back with just as much fervour because she had _meant_ it when she said 'I love you' on that dark and gloomy night.

Her world revolved around Neo, and would keep doing so because this love was here to _stay_ , and it wasn't going _anywhere_ any time soon.

* * *

' _ **My heart in your hands.**_

 _ **Your heart in mine.**_

 _ **I'll hold yours tight, so don't you let go of mine'**_


End file.
